PRINCETON, NJ –  Rebounding from Friday night's hard-fought loss to no. 24-ranked Bucknell University, the Iona women's water polo notched its third and fourth season wins with a 17-11 victory over St. Francis University (PA) and a come-from-behind 12-8 win over Mount Saint Mary's (MD) in the Princeton Invite sponsored by Princeton University.

Iona 17  St. Francis (PA) 11

Up by four goals at the start of the second quarter, Iona led by a single goal at halftime, but outscored St. Francis 11-6 in the second half to notch its third season win in the first of today's two matches. Graduate student Laura Rockett led the Maroon and Gold with a career-high five goals on five shots, while senior Maeve Wydan had four scores on seven shots and graduate student Danielle Hernandez had three scores on five shots. Graduate student Jordan van Reeken and sophomore Kaya Hart scored twice and senior Malia Naugle added one goal.  Iona scored 17 goals on 40 shots and made eight assists with three from Hernandez and two from van Reeken.

In goal, freshman Mary Jane Bailey made 13 saves on 27 St. Francis shots with 11 goals against and one steal. On defense, Iona made seven steals and blocked five shots with three by Wydan. Iona drew seven kickouts, while being ejected 13 times and allowing one five-meter penalty shot which St. Francis did not convert. Naugle was disqualified with three ejections. The Gaels turned the ball over five times.  Iona did not score once on seven man-up chances, while St. Francis scored on four of 13.

The Gaels jumped off to three-goal lead on two scores from Wydan and one from Rockett in three of Iona's first four possessions to go up 3-0 with 5:23 left in the opening period. The Red Flash got on the board with 2:46 on the clock to trim the Gaels edge back to two 3-1. With eight ticks remaining, Hernandez restored the Iona three-goal cushion 4-1 going into the second period.

With 46 seconds gone in the second quarter, Hernandez struck again on an Iona counterattack for a four-goal 5-1 edge. But St. Francis answered on its next two trips down the pool to pull within two 5-3 at the 5:19 mark. As the shot clock wound down to seven seconds, Wydan found the back of the net for the third time to extend the Iona edge back to three 6-3. But the Red Flash answered with two straight scores to narrow the gap back to one 6-5 with five ticks to halftime. 

As Iona outscored St. Francis 5-2 in the third quarter, Wydan needed only 14 seconds to restore the Gaels edge to two 7-5 with her fourth goal.That sparked a 3-0 Iona run with scores from Hart and Rockett to up the Gaels margin to four 9-5 with 6:11 to go. After a Red Flash score, Naugle put Iona back up four 10-6, then two consecutive St. Francis scores cut the Gaels lead back to two 10-8 at the 3:11 mark. After Rockett's third score with three seconds left, a St. Francis five-meter penalty shot with time expired struck the crossbar to preserve a three-goal 11-8 edge going into the final period.

On the Gaels first fourth-quarter possession, van Reeken's lob put the Gaels back four 12-8 with 44 seconds gone. Iona tacked on two straight scores from Hernandez and Rockett for a six-goal 14-8 cushion with 6:12 remaining. Following a Red Flash scored, Rockett hit her fifth goal and van Reeken scored her second for a seven-goal 16-9 advantage at the 4:36 mark. St. Francis scored on its next two possessions, but Hart's second goal at 2:26 on the clock sealed Iona's third season win.

Iona 12 Mount Saint Mary's 8

After managing only two goals on 20 shots in the first period, Iona outscored Mount Saint Mary's 10-5 in the second half for its fourth season win in this evening's match in a 12-8 win over Mount Saint Mary's.Naugle led the Gaels with a career-high four goals on six shots, while van Reeken and Hart scored three goals each.  Rockett and sophomore Amelia Gonzalez added one goal each. The Gaels scored 12 goals on 40 shots and had 11 assists with four from Wydan and three from Rockett.

In goal, Bailey made 10 saves on 23 Mount Saint Mary's shots with eight goals against and one assist.  Sophomore Lilly Morris made her Gael debut in goal with 40 seconds left, but did not face any shots. On defense, Iona made 14 steals with three by senior Karsyn Stewart and blocked x shots. Iona drew ten kick outs with four by van Reeken, including two five-meter penalty shots, while being ejected four times and allowing one five-meter penalty shot. The Gaels turned the ball over six times. Iona scored four goals of 10 man-up chances, while Mount Saint Mary's scored on two of four.

With 1:31 gone in the match, Naugle gave Iona a one-goal 1-0 edge, but Mount Saint Mary's tied the score at one each 1:08 later. The Mountaineers went up one 2-1 on their next possession until Hart's goal re-knotted the game at two each with 3:42 left in the opening period. Mount Saint Mary's regained the edge with 2:21 left for a 3-2 lead going into the second period. On their first second-period chance, the Mountaineers went up two 4-2 with 7:36 on the clock.  Neither squad scored for the rest of the period, as the Gaels managed only two goals on 20 shots in the first half.

Sparking a Gael 5-2 rally, van Reeken opened the third period with a lob that cut the Mountaineers lead back to one 4-3 with 36 seconds gone. Mount Saint Mary answered on a five-meter penalty shot to go back up two 5-3 with 6:10 to go. Naugle's second goal got Iona back within one, then Rockett's near-side counter shot tied the match for the third time at three each with 4:41 remaining. The Gaels capitalized on a man-up chance as Rockett's second goal re-tied the score at six each with 2:07 left. Gonzalez's break-away goal 43 ticks later gave the Gaels their first lead 7-6 going into the final period.

Naugle's third goal upped the Gaels edge to two 8-6, but the Mountaineers answered to pull back within one 8-7 with 45 ticks gone in the final quarter. Two unanswered Iona goals by Hart and Naugle mounted a three-goal edge 10-7 until a Mount Saint Mary's goal cut the Gaels lead back to two 10-8 with 4:48 left. After a Gael timeout, Hart scored her third goal on a 6-on-5 advantage, followed by van Reeken's five-meter penalty skip-shot score for a four-goal advantage 12-8 at the 2:24 mark to seal the win.

UP NEXT

After next weekend's water polo alumni reunion, Iona travels to Poughkeepsie on Saturday, February 26, for three non-conference matches in the Courtney Fisher Invitational hosted by Marist College. Iona faces Salem University at 9:15 a.m., Mercyhurst University at 2:15 p.m., and LaSalle University at 7:15 p.m.

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